School buildings weather storms

For staff that have been with the Sisters School District for a decade, it's a bout of deja vu -- a new high school and a powerful winter storm.

In the early nineties, the high school -- now middle school -- building was built with a metal roof and no provisions were made to hold the snow on the roof. Snow slid off and built up and water got into the building by means of saturated ground around the exterior.

"When everything thawed, water got in the building," said Bob Martin, Facilities and Construction Project Manager for the Sisters School District.

In combination with the sliding snow from the roof, there were elevation differences that slopped the grade back toward the building. This caused the soil surrounding the building to be saturated with moisture over a long period of time.

A major remodeling effort two years ago was tested for the first time with the New Year's storms.

The district installed "snow brakes" on the roofs which release the water as the snow melts, as opposed to having it fall on the ground all at one time.

A gutter downspout system and a drainage system to pick up the roof water once it hit ground level were also installed.

Now there are no problems with leakage in the middle school, but there are some in the new high school building.

"We had a test on the new high school this year...31 inches of snow," said Martin. "It fared quite well."

Not perfectly, though. The roof of the new high school leaked in the library, lecture/drama room and in the plazas.

According to Martin, the leaks are a result of moisture getting in around mechanical boxes and masonry materials due to installer error.

"Specifically, where we have flashing up against masonry walls and sky- lights. There was also leaking where we had mechanical attachments, like over the kitchen," Martin explained.

Kirby Naglehout Construction was quick to respond and suggested fixing the "installer error" when there was no snow and warmer weather.

"(General contractor Kirby) Naglehout had a job supervisor out there overseeing the whole thing and you expect your subcontractors to do their work properly," Martin said.

"It's a warranty issue and there's no cost to the school district."

The Facilities and Construction Project Manager was pretty confident of the new building, despite leaks.

In some parts of the state a high school would have never been open under 31 inches of snow; Sisters' students were in school and dry.